


Family

by sweet_sunset_rain



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Horsemen as a family, New Member, plot bunnies rule, you know like the title
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweet_sunset_rain/pseuds/sweet_sunset_rain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>after the second movie, the four horsemen (Danny, jack, Merritt and Henley) have a new mission that involves the four of them living with a member of the eye who has been since birth, Taylor Kaufman, and she joins the team. No spoilers for movie 2, don't worry. I liked Henley too much to leave her out.<br/>r+r, also posted on fanfiction.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ch. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the horsemen reunite with Henley reeves

It was a normal morning for the Four Horsemen. They all sat crowded around their shared table, Jack and Lula on one side, Daniel and Merritt on the other. Merritt was busy with his scone picked up by Jack on that morning's coffee run. Each of the four always got the same thing; Merritt his scone(he didn't like coffee, which Jack would never understand), Danny his pure black caffeine (always brewed by Jack when the slight returned due to the fact that the cafe served no such thing), Lula her peppermint mocha with extra whip(Jack wondered what would happen to the addicted girl in January). He, himself, though always the one on the early morning food runs, never got a thing. He didn't believe in breakfast and was never really that hungry anyways.

Merritt sat up suddenly, leaning forward until his nose was touching Lula's. "You should really get that tooth checked out if it hurts that bad"

"go away!" she stood up, and out came snickers of Jack and the glares between the other two. Just then the door opened revealing Dylan Rhodes, who hadn't even bothered to knock. the house was half a mile from any trace of civilization, and no one came out here but him.

"Actually Lula, if it does hurt I can bring you in to the doctor's. The Eye needs the other three for a mission anyways. I'll put you in." Out came a smartphone and Dylan started tapping.

"Thanks but I'm fine, but why do the others have a mission without me? Where are they going to get their feminine... flair?" She tossed some of her hair off her right shoulder, much to the amusement of two chuckling boys and a slap from an amused Daniel.

"I think they'll be fine, Lula. I have an old friend to help with this one"

"Who?" a certain slight asked, not to Dylan but to the bald with his hands pressed into his temples. The mentalist was halfway through shrugging when a voice came from the doorway and four heads turned to face it.

"me, I think" first the four caught sight of the red hair, then the black gloves moving the almost-curls away from her face."hello boys." the two words were said and that was when they all just knew who was speaking.

"Henley!" three males rushed up at varying paces to give her a hug while two female eyes stared timidly at the redhead who had appeared. Henley spoke first.

"Hi, you must be Lula. I'm Henley" The escape artist used her skills to remove herself from the hugs, high fives, and fist bumps comeing at her from all directions.

"Hi." The two shook hands.

"Don't worry, I'll take great care of the three of them" The geek artist mirrored Henley's grin.

"I trust you will"

Dylan had to break things up. "alright Lula, you can stay here. Boys pack your bags and be back here in ten minutes." The ex-cop received a tap on the shoulder fromn a gloved hand. Lookingf into Henley's eyes, he sighed. "Yes, you may use the restroom. Now split!" five sets of feet started to move. Three ran upstairs, one stalked to the table in a huff, and one walked a few feet before stoping and turning around, heels clicking on the wood planked floor. "second door on the right." Rhodes instructed. The final pair of feet resumed walking. "Ten minutes!"

Thirty munutes later, all the boys had what they needed and were standing in the driveway, with enough bags to board an airplane and need to check nothing. "this should make getting everything in back easy! Good job boys." They were proud until they actually opened the trunck of the five seater. Henley's bags, all uniform, were stacked almost to the roof of the car. "Then again, maybe not."

(page break)

Once they had gotten the bag situation figued out, The four had all menaged to get their lager bags kin the trunk but also were buried in Henley's smaller bags. The magitians in back, Marrit then Jack, Then Daniel behind Henley were all holding backpacks or purses. The window-sitters each had a medium sized suitcase under their feet. Dylan was driving, so he had nothing but a flowerprint purse slung over one shoulder and Henley was holding... Nothing.

"so why are we switching houses agian?" Daniel asked, Dylan answered willingly.

"Because we are meetying up with a person who will help you with your mission. One of them will be living with you for the forseeable future, so please be nice."

"are you going to tell usd anything about them? like names... ages... genders?" Henley this time.

"Sorry guys, I don't know any of that stuff. They just sent mee to pick you all up. Three sets of eyes turned to Merritt, who stared unblinking at the back of Dylan's head.

"truth. I guess we have to wait and see who mystery man is."

"yeah, yeah." Danny. "Just wait and see"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I will try to update regularly and will not leave this story unfinished. I have a lot of Ideas on where the story will go, but will always have a question for yall to answer in the reviews. I will aways take cunstuctive criticism, but not flames. I love to hear what you think. (cue the uncle Sam poster). See yall soon!
> 
> question: what should I call these questions? also, I will have shows in later chapters, does anyone want to describe a small trick and who will preform it? anyone can comment, so no reason not to!
> 
> \- rain


	2. ch. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the horsemen meet their new member

Soon the horsemen arrived at the house. Though the ride was approximately ten minutes long, the last five Jack had serenaded the others with choruses of "are we there yet? Are we there yet? Is that it? Ooh, that one's nice. Are ya sure we aren't there yet?" Henley especially got tired of this fast. She kicked the door open, leapt out and slammed it with a thud.

"That's what ya get for annoying the life out of me!" She shouted at the car. Then she turned to look at the house. She'd seen better, definitely. The windows were grimy, the shingles needed a good scrub, heck, and even the white paint looked the color of a napkin after dipped in tea. The eye really liked putting the four of them in places that could use a little TLC, as far as she could tell. Hey, though, if they worked together as a team, plus the mysterious #5 they were supposed to get, they could fix it up. Looking at it through this new angle, she surveyed the house again. It was two stories, sat at the end of a half a mile gravel driveway in the suburbs of some town in a rural area of New York. About as out of the way as the eye could get the famous magicians without pulling a Jack and faking their own deaths. The house may've seemed a little squat, but in no time, they could get it in working condition.

Her gaze drifted down to a man in front of the black door. He was in all black, leather jacket, cotton shirt, baseball hat, dress pants, and Italian leather shoes. This must be their mystery man. He was ageless, maybe late thirties to maybe late fifties. His only light features were his skin and his eyes and he seemed heavily engrossed in a cellphone conversation. "Well, this must be him."

"Looks like it." Danny's voice. Henley spun around to face the other three horsemen and Dylan. She'd been so lost in her thoughts she didn't even know the four had climbed out of the car, grabbed their bags from the trunk, and dumped her things in a senseless heap behind her.

"Ugh, you three.... don't you all know how to handle a lady's bags? No? Well you don't throw them on the floor!" She had already begun picking up the pile, dusting off each bag, and stacking them all in size order. That was when the man in black noticed them. He walked down the sidewalk that led from the front door to the driveway, standing behind Henley.

"uhhh, Henley..." Dylan stood to her left as she spun on one heel to face him, seeing the man so close. She started and stepped in line with the others, who had been behind her until then. The man finally spoke.

"Are you the four horsemen?" when they all nodded, the man continued. "Good. Your new member should be here any second."

"Oh, so you're not him?" questioned Merritt. He must've given up mentalism for the day because so far, that had gotten him nowhere. He resorted to asking questions like the rest of them.

"Taylor? Nah. I'm just the guy the eye sent to make sure you all got here in time. I'm no Taylor." he walked back to the door grinning to himself and shaking his head.

"Taylor, huh" Danny mused, trying to extract pieces about this mysterious boy through his name.

“I hope he’s my age.” Jack said. “All you people are too old.”

“I wonder what his magic specialty is. Taylor the Mentalist does sound pretty great” Merritt decided.

“We won’t need to wait much longer, here’s the car now!” Dylan announced, and five heads looked down the path.

First the navy door opened. Then a surprisingly small foot stepped out, followed by a leg. Soon there was a whole person in front of the car, shutting the door with a soft thud. Four people stood silently until Jack opened his mouth “you’re not a mystery man at all!”

Luckily the girl, yes girl, seemed not to have heard. She had blonde hair in a loose side ponytail over one shoulder in ringlets just loose enough to suggest they were natural. Her skin was tanned, but not too deeply. She couldn’t have been more than seventeen, generously, but she was just plain short. Her hands were in the pockets of a gray sweatshirt and her mouth was slightly agape. Her grey eyes were fixed on Henley, head slightly cocked.

“No way.” Taylor, this had to be Taylor, said, “a girl in the eye? I thought I was the only one! I...I’m Taylor” She bridged the gap to Henley, hand outstretched, although she let it fall before the older girl could shake it.

“Henley.” the girls smiled, revealing Taylor’s braces, then noticed the other four’s staring and backed up to her original position and eyed them cautiously, not holding a single person’s gaze for more than three seconds.

The man in black walked up to the girl and said “Taylor, I see you’ve met the four horsemen. They’ll be living with you for the next few months.” The newcomer glanced at the five, and the and in black spoke again. “Dylan, you may leave.”

“K. Guys, listen to this guy and stay safe. Bye!” he walked back to the five-seater, threw Henley’s purse at her, and left after waving out the window to the remaining four.

“Ok, so I’m giving you all free reign, but The Eye has some rules. First, no leaving the house without another horsemen. You also have to make sure all five of you know where everyone is at all times. Keep your phones on you, have each other’s number. Finally, please try to get along. We’ll send you your next instructions soon.”

The man obviously had nothing else to say to the group, so the five walked into the house and he drove away. It was even worse on the inside. There were spider webs in every corner, the walls were even darker, and after some inspection, they found it only had three bedrooms and a couch. At least the electricity and plumbing worked, although Taylor was fairly certain no one wanted to drink that water.

Danny, taking charge said to the four “Alright. So, we need to clean this place up, agreed?” all heads nodded “great. Girls, you two clean the deck and yard. We’ll do the inside. Merritt, can you take bedrooms, bathrooms, and hallways? I’ll take the other rooms. Jack can you go to the grocery store? Buy some food and definitely a water purifier. No one wants to drink this water” he flicked the faucet on in the sink and everyone recoiled. “Four on three?” they all put their hands in the middle. He counted “one, two, three,”

“FOUR!” shouted all but Taylor, who just stood there confused. Then they went their separate ways, Henley motioning for Taylor to follow her. The back deck was, surprise, surprise, filthy. The white metal fence was grimy and the lawn was overgrown. Should be fun.

“Alright, I’ll get a bucket and a scrubber to clean the deck with” Taylor spoke up, but quickly backtracked as soon backtracked as the redhead turned around. “I, I mean, if that’s OK with you…”

“Sure. Get two. We can work together on the fence and chairs. Then I’ll do the lawn while you sweep the deck.” The small blonde nodded, turned and walked inside. After finding two scrubbers, a bucket, and filling the bucket with some of the sink water she returned to see the other girl had set up all the chairs and a table. “Let’s get started then.” The two started scrubbing. After about half an hour, the two started talking. The conversation started haltingly, as Henley was beginning to realize this girl had no social skills.  
“What’s your favorite color?”  
“Blue” at this one, she didn’t even look up.  
“That’s cool. Mine’s red.” The redhead went back to scrubbing, but also kept trying to strike up a conversation. Favorite animal (chipmunk), favorite hobby (magic), favorite subject in school (home schooled). All one word answers. But Henley kept pressing, and soon one word turned to two, two to three, and slowly, Taylor came out of her shell. Henley still wasn’t sure she trusted this kid, but the two were on speaking terms, at least. She was beginning to like Taylor though, and she was pretty sure Taylor liked her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN-another chapter! Pls. r+r, but no flames. I can’t wait to see what yall think!  
>  Missblondee- Glad you like it. Keep an eye out for Lula later. I do love girl power. I also enjoy seeing Henley tease Jack, so yeah. But I do think that Taylor would join in the fun.  
>  Questions- seriously, what should I call these? Also, what should the horsemen have for dinner tonight?  
>  Now I’ll see you soon,  
>  -Rain


	3. ch. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first show and a mother hen

After the five had managed to get the house a little cleaned up, they sat around the table outside, Danny sitting in one of the filthy chairs from the kitchen. Jack had picked up indian food (the girls suggested chinese and Danny had refused due to the fact that he was DONE with china) and the five had dug in. Once they were done, they asked Taylor to show them some of her tricks. She gave the four a little show in the living room, and after explaining she was an elementalist (no,Merritt, Not mentalist) she proceeded to set a match Henley found somewhere on fire, pick the fire up, turn it to to the size of a basketball, and dribble it around the room without it ever making contact with her . Suddenly, a knock at the door. Taylor, still dribbling, opened it to see a manilla envelope. 

The other four soon joined her, careful to stay away from the flame bouncing in her hand. Merritt reached down and picked it up, and began to slowly unwrap it. He read it,then announced, We h”ave a show tonight at 10. Soundcheck at 8. Get your best tricks ready guys, Taylor,they made it clear you’re to be onstage posing as one of our younger siblings.” He dropped the note at the coffee table and went upstairs to his room. They’d decided the girls share one room, Merritt and Danny got the other two while Jack got the couch. The others who had rooms went to them, each prepping for the night’s show. Only the control freak went to the kitchen. Danny was on the verge of hyperventilating, because “of course they wouldn’t give him enough time to do his best work, why on earth would they do that?” He finally resigned himself to saying “well, if the eye wanted our best, They should’ve given us more time.I guess they don’t” He then went upstairs,Taylor behind him, having extinguished her fireball.

When she got to her room, Henley already had at least five outfits laid out on the bed. They were all sparkly and had skirts that barely went past the waistline. “Woah. How many outfits do you have?” she asked as Henley was still unloading dresses into the closet, which was almost full. “No wonder you have so many bags. I’ll use the closet downstairs.” she turned to leave, but henley stopped her. 

“No. Young lady, first we are picking out tonight’s outfit. We only have an hour and a half till we leave. Open your bag.” Taylor did, and the older girl went through five sets of jeans, three t-shirts, and another hoodie before reaching the bottom. “That’s all you have? You’re wearing one of mine.” She went through their ‘shared’ closet before pulling out a blue/white dress with maybe a two finger strap that looked like it might reach Taylor’s knees. It was light blue on bottom, fading into white at the top. The very top was lined with clear sequins. “Put this on. Go!” And so she did. 

(Page break)

It was almost showtime. Taylor’d impressed the others at soundcheck, but now the five were sitting backstage, and nerves were starting to kick in. Henley was doing her hair and she was applying blush and mascara to three men in suits. All too soon a stage hand came in to warn them ten minutes till showtime. 

“Alright, Good luck everyone. Taylor, one more time. What are our names.” Daniel received a pair of grey eyes rolled.

“Uncle M, Uncle Danny, Auntie Hen, and Jack. Honestly, is that so hard to remember?”

“I just don’t want you to slip up on stage.” They’d decided she would be Jack’s ‘adopted’ younger sister since they were close in ages. The five went to the wings, Henley and Merritt on stage right, Daniel in the middle and the ‘siblings’ on stage left. 

Once the other three had gone on, the stage lefters were almost up. Jack glanced over at Taylor and saw she was shaking, staring at the crowd. He grabbed her hand in his, and she squeezed. “You ready?” the teen shook her head violently. He sighed. “Scared?”

“Terrified. All those people...” He looked into her eyes and turned so they were facing each other. 

“You did great at soundcheck.”

“But that was just the horsemen and the crew. Now there’s thousands of people i’ve never met watching and probably even more because we encourage streaming.I’ve never performed in front of more than thirty people before, Jack. How am I gonna do this?”

“Hey listen, I get where you’re coming from. My first show with the horsemen I was a nervous wreck.” complete lies.

“Really?” no. 

“Sure. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna go out on cue, and I’ll hold your hand the whole time. The audience will think it’s ok because we’re siblings who just found each other or whatever. If you get scared, squeeze and I’ll take over, Ok?”

“Ok.” and out they went.

The rest of the show was a blur for Taylor. It started with a sweet intro for the youngest horsemen, Uncle Danny and Auntie Hen doing some tricks together, Uncle M putting some poor man to sleep and then hypnotizing him into thinking he was a chicken, and Jack doing something with a deck of cards and a mirror that made them look like they were growing and shrinking behind him once he threw them.She would say illusions run in the family if the family wasn’t fake. Then Jack introduced her. 

First she asked him to bring out the pot of water and put it in front of her. She’d chosen water and not fire today because, though she loved fire, water went more with her outfit. She caused it to rise, separate into three streams, each of those streams to form a ball, and then she juggled. As she did so, the balls grew and glowed and when she threw them up, they dissolved into mist and a rainbow appeared over the audience, causing them to applaud. 

The other three horsemen joined Jack and Taylor onstage to do the final trick. Honestly, Taylor couldn’t tell you what it was if she tried, but it ended with money to the audience, as always. She just couldn’t stop thinking that she’d done it. She’d performed on an actual stage and the audience actually liked it. She smiled so wide her cheeks hurt but she just couldn’t stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- hey yall! Another ch. Done! Thanks so much for reviewing if u did and if you didn’t, now’s the time to start!r+r please, and no flames. I hope to get another ch. Out soon and keep getting the story moving, so keep reading.
> 
> And now for one tiny detail,  
>  A question- I need a villain for the horsemen to take down. So either a brand name or a person would be nice, thx. Also what’s their deal. I cannot stress this enough. I love hearing what yall think. PLEASE REVIEW!
> 
> Happy reading,  
>  -rain


	4. pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taylor makes pancakes and conflict.

The morning after the show, Henley woke up to find that her roommate’s side of the bed was empty, the sheet pulled from where Taylor had slept. The ginger went downstairs to find Taylor cooking breakfast. 

Once the teen noticed the red hed with bed head, she quietly asked “Want some? I made pancakes.” she smiled when the elder girl nodded, sitting at the counter. “Strawberries or blueberries?” 

“Strawberries.” Taylor sliced some on top of a stack of three cakes expertly, made an intricate swirl of whip, and placed it in front of Henley. It was so perfect the latter almost didn’t want to eat it, but she caved to her hunger, reaching to take a bite.

“Henley, Don’t eat that.” the escape artist paused with the fork held to her open mouth before glaring at Atlas, who had interrupted her eating. 

“Why shouldn’t I? They’re just pancakes.” he shook his head.

“What if she’s trying to poison you?”

“Danny, I slept in the same bed as her last night. If she wanted to hurt me, she would have. Besides,” she popped the bite in her mouth, and speaking through the food, stared him down “They’re so good!”

Daniel rolled his eyes at Henley,and sat down in a huff. Taylor, who had been watching the two of them much in the same way one would watch a tennis match (eyes darting between the pair quickly as they each debated), finally spoke up.

“Can I get you anything, Daniel?”

“Don’t you dare.” his eyes glinted with distrust, and the young girl’s looked back in sadness, crestfallen. 

Henley stepped in. “Honestly Taylor, this is great. Can you show me how to make it sometime?”

That perked the blonde right up. “Sure! I’d love to!” the girls shared a smile and the little chef went back to the stove, humming to herself. Just then, Jack walked in, disheveled. He’d obviously just gotten off the couch. 

“Who cooked? None of us can cook.” he saw Henley’s plate. “Especially not like that!”

“I did!” Taylor waved, flipping a third pancake on a plate. “Want some?” he nodded. “Blueberries or strawberries?”

“Blueberries please.”

“Coming right up.” she sprinkled the fruit and added whipped cream, placing a fork on the side. “Order up!” She made a plate (blueberries) for herself and sat down half a second before merritt walked in.

“Who’s brilliant idea was it to have breakfast without me?” Merritt complained.

“Well, I didn’t want to wake anyone up, they all just came down before you did. Want some?” Taylor asked for the fourth time.

“Sure.”

Blueberries or strawberries?” Taylor repeated.

“Blueberries!” Jack advised from the counter.

“Strawberries!” Henley suggested.

“NEITHER!” Daniel shouted from his stool. Merritt chose strawberries. Once made, the five moved outside, all carrying plates, save Henley, who was done, and Danny, who had made cereal. 

“So, you can cook.” Jack remarked. “That’s new.” She smiled shyly. “When did that start?”

“Well, my parents are both in the eye, and they were almost always on the run from the FBI or doing magic, so not making meals. I usually just ate sandwiches for lunch and ordered dinner, but I always made breakfast.”

“Well, It’s very good.” the slight complemented, and the five all sat, bonding over their fluffy breakfast, and it was a wonderful start to a wonderful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- so, I’ve made an executive decision to do little one shots on the horsemen living with Taylor, because I think that was what I meant to do all along. These will build off one another but all still have their own storyline, and next ch. You’ll find out why… SUSPENSE!
> 
> And now presenting, a question- Are yall fine with that idea? If you would rather I do one cohesive storyline, just say so. Right now, though, I think I will do these. If you have an id  
> a for a one shot, throw that out here too. I only the pairings danny/Henley and Jack/Lula, just FYI. R+R pls!
> 
> -rain


	5. ch. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> conflict and risk

The four horsemen and their young teammate sat around the coffee table, with Merritt, Danny, and Henley on the couch and Taylor and Jack on the floor. A game of Risk (Three hours running) was in progress, and it was down to Merritt and Jack. Jack had beaten Merritt out of one of his countries to applause when they heard a knock on their front door. Merritt was pushed from his spot by Henley, being told that since he’d just lost, he had to get up. 

As the mentalist opened the door, he realized that the person on the porch was none other than Dylan, who walked in and sat at the table and set a folder of papers in front of him heavily on the wood. Hearing this, the other four came to the room, sitting at seats by the table, until Merritt realized that he was the only one without a chair. As he turned to get a chair from the deck, Dylan spoke for the first time.

“Don’t grab a chair. I only need to talk to the other four, Merritt.”

“No. we are all in this together. We need to hear something, he needs to hear it too.” Atlas, having picked up that this was going to be important, intoned softly and yet forcefully. “Go grab a chair.”

“Fine, but it doesn’t affect you.” the agent gave in easily, waiting until the older man had gotten a chair and sat down before continuing. “Taylor, have you heard from your parents lately?”

“Does last year count?” Dylan’s head shook. “Why are you asking?” 

“Well, if they haven’t contacted you, then that means that they have gone entirely off the grid. Our best hackers and even our trained professionals can’t find a trace.” He stopped to study her face, mostly stoic, but with a slight hint of confusion. 

“Why are you telling me this? Children in the eye are supposed to lose all personal contact with their parents at age fourteen. I haven’t seen them in a year. How does all this affect me?”

“Because, another rule in the eye is that until you’ve proven yourself your status is equivalent to your parent’s, soooooo…..”

Taylor gasped in understanding as Jack asked Dylan “Again, how does that affect her?”

The teen answered for him “being off the grid on purpose is the same as quitting to the eye. And” at this she turned to Dylan “since you came here to tell me about this I assume they weren't on a mission, the only non-purposeful way to go off the grid,” At this the man shook his head, “then they must have left on purpose. So them having left means I leave too. How does that affect the rest of them though?”

“I found a way around the rule. Legally, your parents being off the grid means that you are up for adoption. Adoption counts as legal parenting, so if two of the horsemen were to adopt you, then you’d be a magician for the eye again. Of course, you would have to make up some sob story about Jack’s last parent dying, and the other two horsemen stepping in to help their friends, and Jack would be adopted too, but I’m sure you five can handle it.”

Four out of five made noises of accent while Daniel sat still for a second before asking “so Who’s adopting her?”

“Henley, obviously, because she’s the only girl and you actually, because you are closest to her age and you two have some chemistry.” Merritt bumped shoulders with danny, who stuck his tongue out childishly. Taylor was looking at the horsemen, waiting.“Take as long as you three want to decide. This is a big commitment”

“I’ll do it.” henley spoke up, smiling at the blonde, who returned the favor shakily before staring down the illusionist.

“Henley, we’ve known her for less than a week and you want to adopt her?”

“Dylan trusts her, and I trust Dylan. If we don’t do this, she won’t be in the eye anymore. Could you imagine losing that? ” 

“I don’t trust that kid. I don’t want to adopt her just so she can stay in the eye, something she was born into and probably doesn't even deserve! She can live on the streets for all I care.” If any of the five looked at Taylor at that moment, they would have seen grey eyes brimming with tears. They did not, however, so they also missed her quietly excuse herself in favor of watching the escape artist and illusionist scuffle.

An hour and a half later, Henley knocked softly before inviting herself in, finding Taylor curled up on top of the sheets on her side of the bed, face buried in the pillow. “I got ya some things, they were mine when I was little, and I want you to have them.” The small girl lifted her head to take in the book and pair of handcuffs on Henley’s side of the bed.

“For me?” Taylor asked the ginger, who nodded. The book, upon closer inspection, was a worn copy of a beginner’s guide to escapology, and taylor smiled. “This is amazing!”

“Check the inside.” Henley suggested, moving over the blonde’s shoulder to re-read what she’d written.

Dear Taylor,   
This book is for you so you can be just like   
me when ysou grow up, not that you need to   
Be any better than you already are.  
Love, Mom.

At the last line, Taylor jumped up and hugged Henley, who squeaked a little in surprise. “You convinced him? ”

“Read the next line, T.” her eyes took on a heavy smile.

At least if I can help it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- and there’s our conflict. I have ideas for other oneshots and have also decided that oneshots will be given names and the overarching chapters will be called ch. Such and such. 
> 
> Question of the day- how do you like this so far? I do love writing, but I love writing what yall love even more!
> 
> Hope yall have a good day, and remember, the closer you look, the less you see.
> 
> -rain


	6. lula returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lula returns...duh.

**This oneshot is** **_very_ ** **loosely based on a prompt left by missblondee in ch. 4.  I appreciate your support a** **_lot_ ** **. Missblondee, This one’s for you!**

 

It had been a month since Dylan had dropped the whole adoption thing on the horsemen’s faces, but everyone stood in similar positions on the matter as that day. Henley’d practically signed the papers already, going so far as forcing Taylor to call her “mom”.  Merritt didn’t really side with anyone so long as he wasn’t involved, and Jack was all for it (he and his ‘sister’ had grown close after a month of pretending to be related in public, they’d even gotten #supersibs trending on twitter through his account) and he just wanted her to stay with the group. 

 

That, of course, left an extremely hard-headed Atlas who would not allow that at all. He was respectful on stage (every other friday they got a mysterious letter on the doorstep saying where they would be performing and what time to be there) but off, he completely ignored her, much to the annoyance of mother Hen. This situation suited Taylor just fine, though, as she didn’t really want to talk to the control freak any more than he wanted to talk to her.

 

One day, Taylor was watching television with Jack in his room when the phone rang. Jack picked up, and blushed as soon as he heard the voice on the other line. “Oh, hey Lula...Great, how are you?...Good!.... You’re coming over…. Watching Taylor? Ok….Um, I’ll text you. I don’t know it off the top of my head… Great… Oh, Ok! See you later!” and the phone left his ear.

 

“Who’s Lula?” Taylor only could pick up that Jack had a huge crush.

 

“She’s amazing. You’ll meet her soon enough though. She’s coming over this afternoon to watch you while we set up some trick for our next show that Daniel has planned.” they both made faces at the mention of the the illusionist. 

 

“I don’t need to be watched. I’m fifteen. I bet mom put her up to this.”

 

Jack nodded, knowing how much the escape artist cared for her teen. Then realization dawned on his face. “Would you mind helping me get ready? I look like I just got out of bed! She can’t see me like this.”

 

Taylor giggled, pointed out that he had just gotten out of bed, and agreed, picking some clothes out of his closet, laying them out, and leaving him with instructions to put on the chosen outfit. She sat on the stairs and played with her hair, waiting for Jack so she could see how he looked, when the doorbell rang.

 

She opened the door and stared at the black-dressed brunette uncertainly, shrinking away from the woman’s intense stare. Having no idea who the lady was, assuming she was a fan of some kind, she had to keep her and jack’s still active ‘sibling’ relationship alive. She did what any little sister would do if they found a stranger at the door. “Jack?” her voice came out slightly higher than normal.

“What is it, lil sis?” Jack appeared from his room, looking only at her, as the door was cracked in such away that he couldn’t see the lady outside. Taylor swung the door open, and Jack saw a familiar face. “Lula, hi! I see you’ve met my sister, Taylor?” he nodded in the blonde’s direction. 

 

The newcomer turned to the girl. “Good to meet you. Can I come in now? These heels are killing me.” Taylor nodded, mouth pinched, and Jack remembered her shyness. How would she deal with the horsemen leaving her with  this new person? Her eyes were glued steadily on the young woman as she took off her shoe, before widening to the size of beach balls when a foot came with the right heel. Lula screamed, fake blood insued, and Taylor jumped back, grabbing Jack’s side before Lula laughed it off, showing the pair her real foot.

 

“Wow.” The adolescent grinned softly before continuing a little louder “Can you show me how to do that?”

 

“Sure. Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll clean this up, I’ll walk you through the steps, then when your friends and your brother get home, you can show them. Sound ok?”

  
  


“Yeah. OK”  _ Wow,  _ Jack thought. After all even Henley hadn’t been able to get her out of her shell that fast.  _ Point Lula the Scary Magic Girl. _

 

“So, where do you keep your rags?” and so started the bonding of the two girls jack cared most about.  _ They’re gonna do just fine, even if they are bonding over losing limbs and fake blood. _

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- again, big thx to missblondee, the best reader I could possibly have. I hope yall review, even guests can do it, so I hope to see yours soon.
> 
> Quirky Question- Any more prompts? I like expanding on them, so even if you don’t really have a prompt and you have more of a moment or line you want to see incorporated, let me know.
> 
> Happy reading,
> 
> -rain


	7. road trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a road trip and family meeting, horsemen style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- so this is just a little baby plot bunny I decided I loved enough to complete. So I present to yall for your reading pleasure, the horsemen driving each other crazy.

Soon after Lula’s visit, the five (Henley) had decided to have a household meeting. Henley went through all the basic things with the group. “Jack, stop taking paper towels off the grocery list. Merritt keeps forgetting and if you keep doing that soon we’ll have to use beach towels. Merritt, sit down. You don’t get to leave yet.” she was met with a groan, which went promptly ignored. “Taylor, have you learned your trick for tomorrow’s show?” 

“Shoot. I forgot. I’ll get right on that.”

“OK. Danny, It’s your day for dishes, and since you didn’t clean the deck on Tuesday, can you do that to? Great. If no one else has anything to say…”

Her speal was interrupted by a ring in jack’s pocket. He pulled his phone out of his jeans and checked the caller ID. “It’s Lula.”

“You have Lula’s number?” merritt spoke from his place on the couch. “Nice.”

“It’s for work reasons, ya know, having a contact in the eye?” He said, though blushing. 

“Oh, OK, sure. Then why don’t we all have her number?” Danny piped up, entering the conversation.

“Guys, let him answer the phone, otherwise their break up will be our fault.” Taylor defended.

“We’re not… you’re impossible” He side hugged Taylor, messed up her hair, and answered the phone. He didn’t make it in time, however, and as such only got a voicemail to play back.

“Hey jack. Dylan wanted me to tell you all I’m moving in with ya.” Taylor broke into a load of fist pumping and small squeals. “Sooooo, yeah. Whenever ya feel like picking me up. He left me with a minivan to replace your car when you get here. Text me before ya come. Bye!”

“Dang Taylor, calm down.” The young girl’s squeals had escalated throughout the message, until reaching a point where they sounded shrill as a kettle. She stopped, but suddenly started shaking, first her hand, then her whole body. Jack relented. “Spit it out.”

“Lula gets to live with us! Lula gets to live with us! Lulagetstolivewithus! LULA GETS TO LIVE WITH US!” She advanced into her squeaks and squeals.

“I liked shaking Taylor better.” Merritt remarked to his couch buddies,who both nodded.  
“Then let’s go get her, shall we?” Jack decided, and Taylor nodded her head vigorously before running over to the front room to put on her shoes, talking all the way.

“I can’t wait to show her my new trick! I figured out how to chop off both my legs last night, and I modified that leg trick she showed me to work on my hands and-”

“Do you ever stop talking?” Danny cut her off with his question.

“Nope!” Taylor answered quickly before explaining excitedly how she’d created a perfect replica of her hand, oblivious to the fact that no one was really listening anymore, only to be cut off by Henley. 

“Wait! We still have all our chores to do!”

This time Merritt answered. “We can do them when we get back, besides, then Lula can help.”

“Ok, fine.” she conceded. “How far is it?” 

“Three hours one way.” Danny already had his google maps out.

The escape artist pushes air out her nose “I’ll drive”

(Don’t mind me, I’m just a cute little page break)

Two hours later, The horsemen were really starting to hate their car. Merritt and Jack had the window seats in back, Jack behind Henley, Daniel in shotgun, and Taylor on the hump. All but merritt and henley were cringing and covering their ears from Merritt’s singing, Although Heley did have an unnaturally tight grip on the wheel and a deeper scoul than her usual driving face. To make matters worse, the highway was stopped bumper to bumper as far as the eye (not the eye) could see. Joy.

“21 full decks of cards on the wall, 21 full decks of cards! Take one down, throw it around, 20 full decks of cards on the wall! 20 full decks of cards on the wall-”

“Jack, are ya sure we don’t have any duct tape? Like at all?” Danny tried to cut off the singing, but ended up talking over it.

“Sorry. I just checked at 23 decks of cards on the wall.”

“Mom, He won’t quit singing!” Henley’s grip increased, if that was even possible.

“Talk to Danny. I’m driving.” Knowing and fearing Henley’s road rage, Taylor did.

“Daniel, He won’t quit singing.”

“I already told you we don’t have duct tape. Just lean away from him. We’ll only be in here for another…” he checked his watch and sighed. “Fifty-three minutes.”

Taylor sighed and leaned into Jack’s shoulder, squishing him into the window.

“Danny, she’s touching me!” 

“I. don’t. care. ” Daniel turned to look out the window “figure it out yourself.”

There was a brief pause from the two of them, then Taylor spoke over Merritt, Who had decided to switch songs to old mcdonald “Daniel, Jack’s poking me!”

They sounded like kids. “Lean away from him!”

“Now merritt’s poking me!”

“EVERYONE STOP POKING TAYLOR” Henley's voice silenced them all...for a sum of five seconds. Even mother hen couldn’t stop her chicks when they were all cooped up.

Danny checked his watch. Only fifty-two minutes to go. He may have forgotten the drive back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- There ya go! My plot bunny’s all grown up! I feel so proud. Now in the words of Thatcrazychic179, “REVIEW, please. Every review is like a ray of sunshine plus a 6-pack of dr. pepper. It makes me want to update faster.” even all yall guests out there can do it, so Go ahead!
> 
> Question- (more like a prompt) I like ideas. Agian, even if it’s just a line of dailouge or a scenario, I would like to hear it.
> 
> Thx,  
> -Rain


	8. red-blue-swap-osis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> red-blue-swap-osis, merritt and Taylor bonding, and what are the chances

Every so often, one of the horsemen needed their alone time. Henley would get a pedicure, Daniel would go for a walk, Taylor would bake, Lula would go to starbucks, Jack would therapeutically unlock and relock all the doors in the house, or Merritt would nap. They all needed their own space sometimes, and respected when the others did too. They did live in a house together, afterall.

Mostly, though, only one of the horsemen needed space at once, two at most. That afternoon, though, four out of six were personal spacing out, leaving merritt and Taylor alone. They had sat in silence on the porch for a few minutes before Taylor spoke up.

“Soooo… Hi.” She didn’t like the silence, but she couldn’t think of much to say.

“Hi?” The older man looked at the slight girl beside him, before looking ahead to the backyard. He knew she wanted conversation, and he was happy to oblige. “What did you do today?” Not the best, but a Taylor was hard to talk with.

She nudged him with her shoulder, hitting his side. “I’ve been in the same room as you all day, I think you know.” she smiled up at him.

“Yes, but I don’t know what to say, and neither do you, I can tell. Humor me.”

“OK, today I woke up, made breakfast, and came outside to sit with you, so here we are.”

“Here we are.” Merritt paused a moment before continuing. “You bored?”

“Yup.”the P poped in Taylor’s mouth. “You?”

“Yeah.” They were facing the garden. “Wanna play a game?”

“Sure. How about what are the chances” She seemed genuinely excited.

“OK. what are the chances you… convince Jack that the colors red and blue have swiched places. Like a strawberry is blue and the sky is red?” The old man studied her, seeing that she would pick two, picked two as well. Being a mentalist pays off sometimes. She went inside and he followed.

“Jack? Ja-ack! Jack jack jack jack Ja-ack! JACK!”

“What?” Jack appeared from his room.

“Um, I was just researching some different forms of colorblindness.” He gave her a strange look, and she answered his unspoken question. “Yes, colorblindness. Did you know men are like ten times as likely to have it then girls are?” Merritt finally understood what she was doing.

“Yeah” The older man supplied “She tested me and I’m clear. Let her test you.”

“Yeah! Ya know, sibling to sibling.” She grinned and Jack melted. He couldn’t say no to that face

“Fine. What’s the test?”

“What color is a plum?”

“Purple?” 

“Good. pear?”

“Green.” he seemed to be warming up to the game. Time to pull it out from under his feet.

“Nice. Tomato?”

“Red.”

“Close, they’re blue. Blueberry?”

“How is a tomato not red? I’ll show you later. They are. And blue.”’

“No, sorry. Red. You’re really colorblind.”

“They’re literally called blueberries. How are they red?”

The game went on like this for the next half hour or so, until Jack stormed out of the room and returned from the kitchen, his hands full of items that were blue and red. Taylor just kept telling him he was wrong, going so far as calling it a fairly common case of red-blue-swap-osis. When the others came back, Jack asked them all a simple question.

“Guys, what color is a cherry?” yeah, He was met with some strange faces.

From the other room, Taylor called in “I told you they’re blue. You’re just colorblind.”

The girls figured it out first. Lula then henley, Danny figured it out after Lula spoke and a nudge “Did you not know cherries were blue? Oh, Jack.” she grinned and walked to her room , passing Taylor and Merritt on the way. “What game?”

“What are the chances.” The mentalist responded.

“Good one.”

“She’s a trooper. Been at it for half an hour.”

“Yup!” taylor grinned as Lula ruffled her hair and left. Henley passed by with a bump on the shoulder for Merritt and a smirk for Taylor.

Danny passed and asked “When are we gonna tell him”

The other two looked at each other and Merritt responded with “are we ever going to?”

“Fair point.” he nodded and left, leaving a very confused Jack behind, haveing heard none of these conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -yeah! Confused Jack! I love it! Also, Merritt and Taylor bonding! Yass! That’s a lot of exclamation points, so I think I’ll leave y'all with this… Please give me ideas, prompts, dialogue that u want to see, or even just a comment telling me how I did. Every time I read one, My day gets better. 
> 
> See yall soon, 
> 
> Rain


	9. of jackets and t-shirts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taylor is cold, Danny bonding, and song redubs

As he life went on for the Horsemen, the hustle, bustle, and craziness around the house increased. What decreased? Henley’s tolerance for Daniel and Taylor’s avoidance of each other. They had not gotten along yet, and at best would nod as the other entered the room. One day, this sent Henley over the edge. 

“OK! You two need to figure something out, and quick!” the escape artist spun on one heel to face the other two, who were minding their own business on either side of the room, while she made lunch.

“What, mom? What’s wrong?” Taylor looked at the elder girl with a genuine sense of confusion in her eyes.

“I got a call last night.” She sounded regretful about her outburst, but Danny pressed her regardless. 

“And?” he asked, looking up from his cards.

“And, Dylan’s been trying to stall them, but the eye is giving us another week to sign the papers. If we don’t do it now, we lose Taylor.” Looking over at the man, the teen could see he’d made up his mind.

“I thought we talked about this, I won’t do it.” he stared them down, daring objections to come.

“I’ll get packing.” She stood up and walked into the hall. She’d been expecting this. What she wasn’t expecting was Henley’s feet marching after her. She reached out and grabbed Taylor by the ear, dragging her back through the room to the front door. As she passed daniel, she grabbed his ear as well.

Henley opened the door, shoved them out, and said(well screamed),“GET YOURSELVES TOGETHER, MAKE FRIENDS, AND DON’T YOU DARE EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING BACK INTO THE HOUSE UNTIL YOU DO!!!” slamming the door in their faces.

(this is the best-est page break I’ve ever written, Yum, yum, yum)

Fifteen minutes later, the ban from the house had created nothing except a pair of silent magicians sitting next to each other on the porch, the girl rubbing at her arms to quell the goosebumps on her arms, to no avail. 

Apparently Atlas was paying attention to her, to some degree, because he said, albeit still looking straight forward “you cold.”

“I’m in a t-shirt, what do you think?” Taylor kept her eyes forward.

“Well, do you want my jacket?” at this, she did look at him, turning her head to gage if he was serious.

“Really?” He faced her with his head, his face saying he did mean it.

“It won’t do much to keep you warm, but…” he trailed off, as she nodded. Handing it to her, the man watched the girl put it on.

She smiled, looking up at him. “You liar, it is warm… Thank you.”

He returned it, finally seeing the side of Taylor the others adored. “Well, Hen would probably kill me if I let you freeze, so...”

The elementalist leaned against him and laughed, responding with “oh, she so would!” And just like that, the door swung open behind the pair, and when they turned, Henley just nodded for them to come inside.

(the plenty of time, it lets you pass by)

Dinner was normal, with the exception of the fact that Taylor was wearing a jacket that obviously didn’t belong to her, and everyone noticed. Surprisingly enough, no one mentioned anything, simply looking to Henley, who responded with a shrug of her shoulders and a smile.

(and then you don’t have, more filler to write!)

After the others had left the table, Henley decided to say something. “Where’d you get that jacket, T?”

Eyes wide, she quickly started to slip it off, turning to return it before Daniel said “No, kid. It suits you. I’ll get another one.” She shrugged it back on her shoulders, gave him a smile, and practically skipped up the stairs to her room. A certain Atlas turned around to face Henley again and asked her the four words that would change all of their lives for the better. “What’s this about adoption?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN- so hi guys! Long time no see, and for that, I’m sorry. I hope you like this chapter, and for reference, I probably only have 1-2 more, and the next one might even just be an epilogue. And so, without further ado, here are the questions that I STILL need a name for (hint, hint) 
> 
> Q- which was your favorite chapter of this book? Also, what song did I redub in my page breaks for this chapter? Invisible cookies and cocoa for anyone who gets that last one right!
> 
> I think that’s all, so happy holidays, and… See yall later!  
> -rain


	10. SUPER IMPORTANT UPDATE READ DON'T SKIP!!!!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is an important update on the story, and also a chance for you to get involved in the story's future!

Hey guys!  
I just wanted to give y’all an update on this story. I think I’ve resolved the conflict quite nicely, so the main plot is done. That leaves me with one important message…   
THIS STORY IS NOT OVER  
Or it might be, depends on you.   
THIS IS A CHAPTER YOU SHOULD COMMENT ON! HERE’S WHY….  
I am open to receive suggestions on one-shots of the horsemen living with Taylor. All you need to do is comment a line (of dialogue) a simple plot for me to expand on, or a situation. Any chapter you inspire will be dedicated to you, with your prompt at the end so people can see what you wrote.

Only two rules:   
Nothing not appropriate, keep it at the same level my story has been at so far or I will not do it  
Only comment chapter suggestions ON THIS CHAPTER so I can find them all. 

So now it’s up to you… is this story over? (I hope not, i like writing Taylor and the horsemen)

Can’t wait to see what you all can come up with,  
-Rain


End file.
